Gareth Southgate announced England’s 26-men squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on Thursday. There was a surprise inclusion in the 26-men Squad.
One name that gets everyone talking is the inclusion of Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher. The Chelsea academy graduate had a poor start to the season under Thomas Tuchel. The 22-year-old is finally showing why he was one of the breakthrough stars in the Premier League during his loan spell at Crystal Palace under Graham Potter.
Conor Gallagher has made 17 appearances for Chelsea so far and has assisted and found the net once.
England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that Gallagher’s work rate, energy, and press ability was the reason he included him in the 26-men list.
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What did Gareth Southgate say is the reason Conor Gallagher was included in England’s World Cup squad?
Gareth Southgate said at a press conference after announcing the squad: “He’s fantastic at pressing the ball.
“There are going to be moments in these games where we need certain attributes and we feel he could be that sort of player.
“He’s not as experienced as some of the others but he has an impact in games and has a goal threat. When you look at midfielders you often ask, “do they stop goals, create goals, or score goals?” He does a lot of all of that.
“We were really pleased with how he responded to being left out of our squad and going with the Under-21s.
“He performed really well and his mentality was excellent. It was a great example, when you approach it that way, that there is always a route back with us and he has managed to achieve that straight away.”
Reece James was left out of the 26-men squad after Chelsea’s right-back failed to recover in time for the World Cup due to injury.
On the omission of Reece James from the 26-men squad, Gareth Southgate said: “We had to make a very difficult call with Reece, who we think is a fantastic player.
“He wasn’t going to be available, even if everything went perfectly, until the latter stages of the tournament and there were too many unknowns for us on that road to recovery.
“I don’t think we can take a player who is not available for the group, that would be deemed arrogant in some circles. Even if everything went well and he was available and ready, we would be dropping him into a quarter-final after eight weeks out and that would be really demanding.
“It was a tough call and Kyle [Walker, another right-sided defender] is a long way ahead of that.”
England World Cup Squad.
Goalkeepers
Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Nick Pope (Newcastle).
Defenders
Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Benjamin White (Arsenal)
Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
John Stones (Manchester City)
Eric Dier (Tottenham)
Conor Coady (Everton)
Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
Midfielders
Declan Rice (West Ham)
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City)
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)
Mason Mount (Chelsea)
Forwards
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Callum Wilson (Newcastle United)
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
James Maddison (Leicester City)
